The prior art is replete with golf club mounted apparatus. Examples of such apparatus in a search of prior art for such apparatus are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,239,264; 3,273,927; 3,562, 184; 3,698,720; 4,925,190; 4,787,632; 4,892,314; 4,799,684; 4,955,609 and 5,116,046.
A review of the above patents reveals that none of the apparatus disclosed therein is capable of providing for golfer a safe, durable and convenient golf club mounted device which allows the golfer to lift golf balls and to repair ball marks on a putting surface without needing to bend over. More particularly, no apparatus is disclosed in which a safely shaped ball lifting means is mounted over a ball mark repair means to allow a golfer to lift a ball without bending over and which also acts as a cover to the ball mark repair means. All of the devices disclosed, while suitable for their intended purpose, fall short of the above-stated goal. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,351 to Dupont discloses a golf club end mounted ball scoop which allows the golfer to pick up a golf ball from a ball cup without bending over. However, this device provides no means for repairing ball marks on the putting green.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,314 to Rango discloses a means for repairing divots, or ball marks, which is positioned within a hollow end of a golf shaft. However, the divot repair means is only kept in the shaft for storage and so the device does not alleviate the need for the golfer to bend over to repair a divot. U.S. Pat. No. 4,925,190 Learned overcomes the limitation of Rango by disclosing a combination golf club and turf repair tool in which the turf repair means is mounted on the end of a golf club such that the golf club acts as a handle extension and the golfer can repair the divot without bending over. The turf repair tool further uses a portion of the handgrip as a cover for the repair tool. The tool, however, provides no means to lift a ball from the cup. Furthermore, the mounting configuration for mounting the repair tool to the golf club is subject to failure from repeated use. Specifically, the base is subject to be pushed into the shaft from translational forces produced while repairing a ball mark (e.g., when digging into the turf). Furthermore, the base is subject to rotating or tilting in the shaft from torque forces produced while repairing a ball mark (e.g. while turning the turf), necessitating tool repair costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,632 to Nigrelli discloses a device which allows the golfer to both lift the ball from the ball cup and to repair ball marks. However, as is easily apparent, the device is cumbersome on the golf club and exposes many dangerous and potentially damaging surfaces. Furthermore, the golf club cannot be readily put into or taken from a golf bag, because of the bulkiness of the device. Finally, the device's mounting is not torque or translation force resistant.
It would be desirable if the device provided the golfer the ability, without having to bend over, to repair a ball mark and to lift a ball out of a ball cup with little or no damage to the cup. It would further be desirable if the ball lifting means could also act as a removable cover for the ball mark repair means to protect against harm and damage from the repair means. It would be a significant advantage if such a device could provide a configuration which took up no more lateral room than the golf club itself, so that a golf club outfitted with the device structure could conveniently fit in the golf bag or in any other place which the unmodified golf club could fit into. It would also be beneficial if the ball mark repair means could be mounted to the golf club with significant resistance to the torsional and translational forces generated by repairing ball marks.
Additional objects, advantages and novel features of the invention shall be set forth in part in the description that follows, and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned by the practice of the invention. The object and the advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by means of the instrumentalities and in combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
To achieve the foregoing and other objects and in accordance with the purpose of the present invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the combination ball lift and ball mark repair device of this invention may comprise the following.